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There are a number of colleges in the US that allow students to obtain their Bachelor’s or Master’s degrees for a very affordable cost. Apart from being extremely affordable, the colleges are also very flexible and allow students to complete their degree as per their own schedules and timeline. This is something that makes it ideal for those holding full-time jobs or full-time family responsibilities. It is also a good low-cost alternative, to a traditional college, for those who have finished high school and are looking for a way to complete a college degree affordably.

I can personally vouch for these colleges since I too had completed my Bachelor’s degree from Excelsior college in Computer Information Systems, in 1999. At that time, Excelsior college was part of the University of the State of New York. Excelsior college is the most popular of these flexible colleges and is the largest such college in the United States.

For clarity, I will call these colleges as ‘flexible colleges’ since they offer a level of flexibility and convenience for students which I’ve not seen anywhere else.

Here are some additional benefits of these flexible colleges:

They allow unlimited credits transfer for prior learning completed at other accredited institutions.

They offer the lowest cost for completing a college degree in comparison to traditional colleges offering 4yr Bachelors or Masters degrees.

They assign college credits for passing standardized exams such as CLEP, DSST and many more.

They also offer credits for work experience, on-the-job training or other training which can be properly substantiated via a Portfolio Assessment (PA) or a Prior Learning Assessment.

Additionally, these colleges allow students to take any courses, exams or training as long as it is within the degree requirements at the flexible college.

They allow students to complete their degree on their own schedule, with rolling enrollment throughout the year.

More importantly, these colleges value knowledge and learning and offer credits for learning, irrespective of whether the learning was acquired within or outside the classroom.

The colleges also allow foreign students or those who have completed some studies abroad to transfer the credits to the flexible college in the US. A foreign credentials evaluation is generally performed by an agency such as the ECE (Educational Credentials Evaluators) to determine the US credit equivalents for all courses or exams completed abroad.

For the Bachelor’s degree, the primary eligibility is a high school diploma and a small number of college credits that have already been earned. It is best to check with the college as to the number of credits they require before enrolling the student into their degree program. This can be as small as less than 10 credits, but it’s best to check with the college individually.

Apart from having completed my Bachelor’s degree at a frugal/ flexible college, I’ve also done years of research and have found just over a handful of such highly flexible colleges all across the US. These include Excelsior college, Thomas Edison State college, Charter Oak State college and many more.

I sincerely wish this article and my website are helpful to you or someone you know in obtaining a reputed college degree! To Your College and Career Success!!